Cable ingress is a cable system problem, NOT the problem of the amateur. Most cable companies are very willing to comply with FCC regulations when they are notified of an ingress problem because ingress also means egress which is STRONGLY discouraged. I've seen leakage so bad I could watch it a 1000 feet away on my outdoor antenna.

As far as this antenna or that antenna goes, just keep in mind that a dummy load won't cause ANY. An interference free amateur antenna might be little better than a 50 ohm resistor in a can. THe object of the game IS to radiate. If your own TV is clean I wouldn't go buying new sets all 'round the neighborhood. Is it?

Suppose something in the set you give your neighbor fails and the guy fries himself... YOU may very well become part of the personal injury suit.

Cable ingress is a cable system problem, NOT the problem of the amateur. Most cable companies are very willing to comply with FCC regulations when they are notified of an ingress problem because ingress also means egress which is STRONGLY discouraged. I've seen leakage so bad I could watch it a 1000 feet away on my outdoor antenna.

As far as this antenna or that antenna goes, just keep in mind that a dummy load won't cause ANY. An interference free amateur antenna might be little better than a 50 ohm resistor in a can. THe object of the game IS to radiate. If your own TV is clean I wouldn't go buying new sets all 'round the neighborhood. Is it?

Suppose something in the set you give your neighbor fails and the guy fries himself... YOU may very well become part of the personal injury suit.

You know...I didn't see it like that...and even though I am a PBX Technician, I still went to college for a law degree. I THANK YOU for reminding me of the true nature of society.

You should be as cooperative as possible, but don't touch his set , and don't say that you are going to fix it. It is almost certainly not your problem, and volunteering to do anything makes you look responsible. If you touch his set, you will own it and everything that ever goes wrong with it forever.

The TS-120 is a bit aged, but it should still be pretty clean in terms of VHF harmonics. If 10 meter SSB is bothering him, you might try a low pass filter on the rig, but with modern solid state radios, that shouldn't be needed. Still, it will help to ensure that you are not radiating anything that might be bothering him.

Still, if he's getting bad interference when you aren't there, it's time to call the cable company, and it would probably help for you to be there when they come. At least it will prevent their 'expert' technician from automatically blaming everything on you if you're standing there - and don't think for one second that they won't play that card, either. Their technician may or may not have the equipment or skill to isolate and eliminate the problem, but if it's tearing up his TV and NOT tearing up your ham receiver, it's something in THEIR system, not yours.

You don't bother any of your own home electronics do you? That's usually the very first test. If you're clean on your own set/stereo/speakers/telephone, it's hard for them to claim it's your fault.

You should be as cooperative as possible, but don't touch his set , and don't say that you are going to fix it. It is almost certainly not your problem, and volunteering to do anything makes you look responsible. If you touch his set, you will own it and everything that ever goes wrong with it forever.

The TS-120 is a bit aged, but it should still be pretty clean in terms of VHF harmonics. If 10 meter SSB is bothering him, you might try a low pass filter on the rig, but with modern solid state radios, that shouldn't be needed. Still, it will help to ensure that you are not radiating anything that might be bothering him.

Still, if he's getting bad interference when you aren't there, it's time to call the cable company, and it would probably help for you to be there when they come. At least it will prevent their 'expert' technician from automatically blaming everything on you if you're standing there - and don't think for one second that they won't play that card, either. Their technician may or may not have the equipment or skill to isolate and eliminate the problem, but if it's tearing up his TV and NOT tearing up your ham receiver, it's something in THEIR system, not yours.

You don't bother any of your own home electronics do you? That's usually the very first test. If you're clean on your own set/stereo/speakers/telephone, it's hard for them to claim it's your fault.

William:

This is perhaps the BEST "pep-talk" I've ever had in my almost 26 years of being a ham. As a PBX Technician, I can tell you that I have run into those situations professionally. A customer sees me on-premises...and if the copy machine, fax machine, coffee machine happens to break within a day or two of me being there, it MUST CERTAINLY be because of something I did. I see a parallel in your logic...so I indeed will NOT be touching anything on his set.

Today, since it's sunny and beautiful (and WARM) in Elma (south of Buffalo NY), I trimmed my PAR/LNR EF-10/20/40 for SWR. So...the antenna is trimmed to "resonance" (using my Anritsu SiteMaster...a $9000 MARVEL that covers 2-4000 MHz), I have the power turned back to about 5-10 watts on the TS-120, and the ground is OK.

Finally...my apartment is a studio/efficiency. My TV, stereo, etc, is within 6 feet of my Kenwood....and even with the loop and the power turned ALL the way up, I never interfered with any of my stuff.

have you downloaded any of the ARRL interference papers yet? iirc they have something that explains in lightly-technical terms why consumer electronics are so darned awful, and that the issue is up to the owner and manufacturer of the equipment to correct things. hand a couple copies to the homeowner and cableco "tech" (as many of them are just installers with not much knowledge other than crimping connectors.) the watchword has always been "cooperate, but operate."

and the last post is true, the last guy to touch things is the bad boy.

My neighbour came banging at my door, all red faced and angry. She ranted and raved about me causing interference to her TV, the picture all flashing and sound crackling.

I TRIED to explain that I wasn't on the air but her son had told her it was my aerial causing the problem. He was an electrician and therefore "knew what he was talking about".

I asked if I could see the interference but she refused, threatening legal action with a decent amount of swearing at me for good measure so I told her to do what she must and I was closing the door. I also said if she came back I'd call the police. I did manage to get in a word that she could call the UK OFCOM investigator who would take the action against me on her behalf.

Her reply was she'd call in the satellite people and give me the bill to pay. I closed the door.

Three or four days later she returned, tapping gently on the door. I opened it to see her hand outstretched to "shake and make friends". She apologised and added that the TV technician had found her loose SCART plug and shoved it in properly. He said he wouldn't charge her for the call.

I said that was nice of him, thinking to myself, "I wish he'd charged her double"!

I finished by adding that if she had problems in future, so long as she asked nicely I'd do what I could to help..."with a brick through the TV" I thought quietly!

Copyright 2000-2018 eHam.net, LLC
eHam.net is a community web site for amateur (ham) radio operators around the world.
Contact the site with comments or questions.
WEBMASTER@EHAM.NETSite Privacy Statement